Gears of War 4 February Update Out Today; Adds Two New Maps, New Valentine’s Event, and More

Gears of War 4 February Update Out Today; Adds Two New Maps, New Valentine’s Event, and More

Today, Gears of War 4’s February Update releases, and with it, comes two new maps, a week-long Valentine’s event, new Gear Packs to collect, further improvements to the game, and more.

The week-long Valentine’s Event begins February 10th, and will come with new Gear Packs to earn, daily Valentine’s themed bounties, another Craftable Character to collect, and the much-requested return of Torque Bow Tag (with a Cupid-style twist!). Developer, The Coalition, has said it will have more info on the events later this week.

As for the two new maps, they are Impact Dark and War Machine. According to The Coalition, after the game launched the team looked at its lineup of maps and wondered — “how could we have made those maps play entirely different?” Those discussions birthed a new type of map design that all begins with Impact Dark, a remixed version of Impact that completely re-imagines the combat dynamics of the original.

The new nighttime setting for Impact is said to not only bring new ambience, but for the first time ever in the series, visibility is permanently reduced by smoke that has settled over the battlefield, forcing you closer to the action. Additionally, every weapon swap has been changed to later the flow of map, and Snipers have been replaced with Boltoks, Dropshot replaces Torque/EMBAR and the Overkill now sits where Incendiaries used to.

According to the developer, the new version of Impact plays completely different compared to the original. You can see the new map via the new map-specific trailer below:

The other new map is War Machine, which appeared in the first game in the series. But it just isn’t the same map with better textures, it’s a drastic new take on the setting. For Gears of War 4 the map is moving away from the old abandoned train station locale, and is now set in a new COG Settlement, standing out with its pristine appearance and gleaming grandiose features.

Despite the new setting, The Coalition assures fans they everything they love and know about the map is still there, including the frantic opening fight for the Sniper, the intense fight for Torque around the pillars and, of course, the ever-important turret to dominate enemies that stray too far into the open.

You can see the War Machine via its new trailer below:

Both maps are available to play today in the Developer Playlist for Season Pass Holders, featuring TDM, Guardian and King of the Hill game types with Double XP and 20% Bonus Credits.

The games Guardian mode also has some new changes. Citing fan feedback, the spawning system from the original spawn swap solution to something entirely new – Leader Spawns. What this means, is that now you will respawn in a location close to your Leader, which is said to add a new tactical edge. Leaders will need to position themselves in beneficial areas of the map, while other players will have more opportunity to get back to their leader and come to their aid.

Looking ahead, The Coalition revealed that Core and Competitive lobbies will arrive next month via the March update. Further, beginning next month, a steady flow of Legacy Characters for our fans will be released, which characters exactly, wasn’t revealed.

Lastly, looking ahead all the way to the summer, The Coalition has said it will have some huge updates for Horde mode, including the following: